SONG OF THE LIGHT.

Otago Witness, Issue 1843, 18 March 1887, Page 30

SONG OF THE LIGHT.

From the quickened wi-mb of the primal gloom The sun rolled black and bare, 'Till I wove him a vest for h a Ethlop breast, Of the threads of my golden hafr ; And when the broad tent of the firmament Aro>e on its airy spars, I penciled the hue ot its matchless blue. And spangled it round with stars. I painted the flowera of the Eden bowers, And their leaves of living green. And mine were the dyee in the ainl'ss eyes Of Eden's virgin queen ; And when fcbe fiend's art In the trustful heart Had fastened its mortal spell, In the s'lvery sphere of the first-born tear To the trembling earth I fell. When the waves that burst o'er a word accursed, Their work of wrath had sped, An 1 the Ark's lone few, tried and true, Came forth among the dead. With the wondrous gleams of my bridal beams, I bade their terror* cease, As I wrote on the roll of the storm's dark scroll God's covenant of peace. Like a pall at rest on senseless breaat Night's funeral fhadow slept — Where shepherd swains on the Bethlehem plain* '1 heir lonely vigils kept ; When I flashed on their eight the heralds bright Of Heaven's redeeming plan, As the^r chanted the morn of a Savior born — J-'V, joy, to the outcast man. Equal favour I show to the loffcy and low, On the just and unjust I descend ; E'en the blind, whoso vain spheres roll in darkness and tears, Feel my smile the best smile of a friend. Nay, the flower of the waste by my love is embraced, As the rose in the gnrden of kings ; At tie chrysalis Bier of the woun I appear, And Jot the gay buUeifly'a wings. The dc olate morn, like a mourner forlorn, Co ceals all the pride of her charms, 'l"ill I bid the bright hours chase the night from her flowers ~ ' • And lead the young day to her arms ; And.when the gay rover seeks Eve for his lover, Aim! sinks to hrr balmy rspo c c, I wrap the eoft rrst by Ue zephvr-'ftiinsd west Tn curtains of amber aml'ro c. Fiorn'my sentinel bfceep by the uight-b.yoodwl dijey 1 gaze with unshimbwriug eye, When'oynosure star of the mariner Is blotted from out tho sky ; And guided by me through the merciless sea, Though sped by thn hurricane's wingi, His oompaeionlrss, dark, lone, we'teriug bark 'lo the Laven home safely- he brings. I waken the flowera in itillr dew-spangled bowera, 3 he birds in their chambers of green, And mountain and 'plain glow with beauty again, As they bask in their matinal sheen. Oh. if auch the glad worth of my presence to earth. Though fitful and fleeting the while, Whiit glories must rest on the home of blest, Ever bright with the Deity's smile ; — William Pitt Palmbb.